We are also pleased to announce that the Institute of Canadian Citizenship (ICC) has approved the Surrey LIP to form a Surrey Special Citizenship Ceremony Committee. The Immigrant Advisory Roundtable (IAR) got a small budget from the Institute’s Building Citizenship program to organize a special citizenship ceremony in the spring of 2017 which will involve roundtable discussions with new citizens on what it means for them to be Canadian (their challenges and successes).

The group will be working closely with the ICC and IRCC to organize the ceremony. The Surrey LIP will be providing administration support to the group. The Surrey IAR is a founding group of this Committee but we are looking for 6-8 more members to help organize the ceremony and facilitate the discussions.

The Surrey LIP is looking for 4-5 interested community members to be involved in the work of the Committee. Please send us an email to oshcherbyna@surrey.ca explaining why you would like to be involved by August 12, 2016.

What potential members the Surrey Citizenship Committee should know about their involvement:

Members will need to attend at least 2-3 two-hour meetings before March 2017

Members should be prepared to spend 3-4 hours preparing and facilitating the Ceremony on a weekday during working hours

Members should be comfortable facilitating small group discussions and volunteer in event planning

Quick Fact About the Building Citizenship Program:

Initiated by ICC approximately 8-10 years ago

A network of volunteer-run Special Citizenship Ceremony Committees across Canada

ICC provides small funding, training and support to Committees

The Ceremony includes roundtable discussions led by community leaders and residents

The discussion summaries help the ICC do their advocacy and policy work in Canada (Cultural Access Pass was introduced as a result of the first discussions at such ceremonies)